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White House’s silence on Chuck Hagel is deafening

“I think [Sunday] was Chuck Hegel’s obituary on the morning shows,” said senior GOP senate aide and frequent Hagel critic in reference to Democrats, including Sen. Chuck Schumer refusing to say if they would support him. “The White House got final answer that a Hagel nomination would be dead on arrival so now they move on to [Deputy Secretary of Defense Ashton] Carter or [former Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Michèle] Flournoy. Either of those two would get Republican support.”…

One Democratic operative called the silence “telling.”

“I’ve been talking with a lot of Democrats about Hagel and it’s clear that the White House is not making the ask for the heavy lift on this front,” the operative said. “Sounds like they’re moving on and leaving the Hagel loyalists to defend their man alone.”

A long time democratic insider echoed that point, saying it was clear that Obama was moving away from Hagel.